OSR: Rebuilding our lives
by LILrosepetal
Summary: After the race on Oban, after the Nourasians end their "alliance" with the Crogs, they decide to call in some special friends to help them rebuild their planet. And of course, its Eva that gets chosen, along with her entire senior class! Chaos to follow.
1. Chapter 1  Planning

**Oban Star Racers: Season 2 – Rebuilding our lives **

**Chapter 1 – Planning **

It was a warm sunny day in Kansas City. On the outskirts of this remarkable city was a large mansion house. Inside one of the occupied bedrooms were three girls, completely lost in conversation. One was seated on the bed, another on the chair that accompanied the large desk and the third was seated in a beanbag on the floor.

The girl on the bed was no ordinary girl, and parts of her outward appearance bore signs of this. Her hairdo, jet black with a splash of red dye, was completed by a pair of racing goggles perched atop of her hair. Her face bore odd markings, a star and a stripe on her cheeks. She had three piercings in one ear and none in the other, which was not the usual fashion with girls her age, and she wore a choker around her neck. Her clothes were normal enough, for she was wearing white denim shorts with a lilac vest, over which she wore a checkered shirt with the sleeves rolled up. This girls name was Eva Wei.

Her friends seemed no more unusual than her, in fact, compared to Eva, they looked perfectly plain. Her friend in the desk chair had long brown hair that she had plaited, except for a long colourful brain that hung down one side of her face, intricately woven and finished with two light blue beads. She wore a white floaty vest, which was decorated with a flashy slogan, and she wore dark denim high waisted shorts that showed off her tiny waist well. She wore black converse that were open and untied.

In the beanbag was Jenny's Sister Hannah. Hannah wore skinny fit jeans with a brightly coloured belt. Her shirt was long sleeved and white, with black sleeves. She wore white high top trainers and on her head she wore a purple woolly hat, artistically perched so that it did not put a lock of her short brown hair out of place.

These girls were having an animated discussion about the new school term, as the summer holidays were almost over, with school resuming in just two days.

"Wonder what old Finnigan will be making us study when we go back?" said Hannah. Eva rolled her eyes. Mrs. Finnigan was the elderly teacher of Languages and Cultures, and had been hinting at the end of the last term that they would be moving on to cultures from other planets.

"Wonder if it'll be Nourasia, now that they're out of that messed-up alliance with the Crogs," Jenny piped up. Hannah and Eva looked at her, lost in thoughts of the endless news features that had plagued Earth television systems a few months ago, telling stories of the brave soldiers that had gone to assist the Nourasians in expelling the Crogs from their planet. Exclusive pictures had been released, leaked through day by day, showing the usually magnificent planet in complete ruin, by the hands of the Crogs ravaging the planet of its natural resources, and the fighting between the Crogs and the Nourasian and human soldiers. Eva had searched news constantly, waiting for snippets of news or maybe a photo of the Royal Family, and had got her dearest wish, as when Nourasia and Earth had come through victorious, she had seen an image of Prince Aikka, clustered with a group of his fellow knights, in the midst of repairing a part of the palace and looking at the camera. They all looked battered and bruised, but they all had the expression of joy on their face that meant that they were just happy they were free of the crogs and could re build their planet in peace.

"But aren't the Nourasians really secretive about their culture?" asked Hannah, snapping Eva out of her reminiscing. She shrugged.

"Can't be that secretive, if they were willing to pose for all those photos that were on the news," she pointed out. Hannah nodded her agreement. Jenny opened her mouth, but the sound of a car horn stopped her dead. Hannah rolled her eyes.

"That's mother, come to drag us home," she muttered, "Well Eva, guess we'll see you Monday, all psyched up and prepped for another year of slaving over the books," she added, winking. Eva grinned. Hannah had never willingly done a day's work over the book in her life, and Eva hadn't been made aware that she planned to start now. With a last wave and calls of farewell, Hannah and Jenny showed themselves out of the house. Eva watched their car pull away towards the city, and when the car was completely out of sight, she sighed and got to her feet. There were preparations to be made for the new school term.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – A visitor **

Monday morning dawned bright and cheerful, and yet it was not enough to stifle the resigned faces and forlorn sighs of every teenager in Kansas City as they dutifully turned off their morning alarms and bid a sad farewell to six long weeks of sleeping into the afternoon.

Having stumbled out of bed and crammed on slippers, Eva shuffled downstairs to the kitchen, where Don Wei was cooking up morning pancakes.

"Good morning Eva, psyched for the big return to school?" he smiled, chuckling at the dark scowl he received in response. She sat down at the kitchen table and blearily ate her way through a stack of

pancakes, but not before covering them in a decent lashing of syrup.

"School's going to be murder. Bet the teachers have spent all summer creating mass piles of homework to dump on us on the first day back," Eva muttered darkly, more to herself than in conversation with her father. Don Wei smiled to himself. Teenagers these days, always so dramatic about everything.

After Eva had eaten her pancakes in a rather dour silence, she went upstairs to brush her teeth and generally cleaning up, before going to her bedroom to open the wardrobe where the clothes she had chosen the night before, ¾ length denim jeans, a simple t-shirt and a hooded jumper in the school colours, red, emblazoned with the school logo. She dressed into these, and was hurriedly tying the laces on white plimsolls in time to cram a few books into her purple rucksack, slinging it over her shoulder as she grabbed her ring-binder folder.

She ran down the stairs towards the door.

"Bye Dad, I'm coming by your office after school, right? Fine if I bring some mates?" She called over her shoulder just in time to run out the door, giving her father no time to respond, quissentially meaning she was bringing friends whether he liked it or not.

She hurried down the drive to catch her bus to the town to school. Once she was off at her stop she was joined by Hannah and Jenny, where they walked towards to the school. The school was your standard high school, with posters for various dances and fundraisers from last year still plastered all over the place. Students were stood about in their little friendship groups, chatting about their vacations and admiring their friends new haircuts or trainers.

"Shall we go find some boys?" asked Hannah with a wink. Eva shook her head.

"We'll see them in class. Besides, you know how enthusiastic their reunions can get," she said. Her point was emphasised nicely when Jenny emitted a loud shriek due to being drenched by a still fizzing bottle of soda that had obviously been shaken vigorously and then lobbed across the courtyard. Eva picked it up, and glanced in the direction that it had come from. Sure enough, she could make out the shapes of three males, huddled together and laughing at them.

"Welcome back to school Jenny!" one shouted, while the others roared with laughter at his not-so-hilarious joke. Eva merely scowled at them, then rolled her eyes and walked off with her friends as the bell for first class rang.

Sitting in home room was easily the most interesting part of the day, as you were free to talk to friends, and not have to sit in mostly silence listening to a teacher drone on about things that seemed totally irrelevant to the teenage population of the room.

In home room today, their register teacher, Miss Blakeham, seemed excited about something. She took the register rather hurriedly and then announced that there was an assembly that they were expected to attend. She ushered her students out of the room, clutching at what looked like a stack of letters, but refusing to let students look at them.

"You won't understand what they're about until you've been to the assembly," she told a rather perplexed Hannah, before shooing all three girls out the room. Muttering amongst themselves, they joined the throng of confused students headed for the assembly room.

The assembly room was your substandard school hall, except the chairs laid out were permanently welded to the floor, as it was separate from the main hall and gym.

Their headmaster was standing at the podium, and sitting a little behind him was a figure that made every student in the hall do a double take upon entering the room.

He was Nourasian, everyone was sure of that. What baffled them however was what he was doing at their school, as he looked like a very important Nourasian. His greying hair was intricately braided and his long purple cloak was fastened together with a clip that was embossed with the insignia of the Nourasian Royal Family, Eva remembered seeing a symbol just like it on Aikka's hangar during the races. He looked perfectly aware that every pair of eyes in the hall was focused on him, and seemed perfectly unperturbed about it. He was making calm eye contact with everyone else, his grey eyes scanning each row of students as they sat down, and when his eyes fell on Eva, he frowned, and gazed at her a little longer before his eyes continued moving up the row. Eva felt uneasy about his stare, apparently Aikka must have been describing her a lot back on his home planet.

Finally, the headmaster cleared his throat to bring order to the hall, a lot of people were buzzing about their visitor.

"Welcome Seniors, to your final year of high school! We hope that you will achieve your very best, enjoy your final year here, and that you will cherish the memories you create here forever!" He looked round at them with a look of pride in his eyes and continued; "As you all will have noticed, we have a visitor with us, and he would like to talk to you about a very exciting opportunity that is being piloted exclusively with our school. I would like you to welcome Lord Aquila, Chief of the Royal Council and first advisor to the King" Everyone applauded politely, they had been right, he was an important Nourasian.

Lord Aquila rose to his feet, and came to stand at the podium. He surveyed the students with his deep grey eyes, and spoke as if he was weighing every word before he said them.

"Greetings to you students, the Royal Family send you their warmest regards," he stopped to regard them again, and then continued speaking, "The Nourasian people cannot thank your troops enough for their untimely assistance in expelling the Crogs from our city. I strongly feel that if you had not come to our aid, I would not be standing here today," here he shivered lightly before ploughing on again, "However, our once magnificent planet is now in complete ruin, and while our Knights and our people are doing their best to rebuild, I feel we shall need assistance again if Nourasia is ever to be returned to her full glory. The King himself sincerely agreed with my concerns, and we sent envoys to your President, again requesting help. Our envoys were most graciously received, and the President and his council had an inspiring idea. And this, dear students, is where all of you come in" He looked at the students; some were looking a little baffled, others were looking apprehensive. Eva herself was feeling a little bubble of excitement in her stomach. Could he be suggesting...? Lord Aquila again ploughed on with his speech.

"It has been said amongst your people for many years that we Nourasians are a secretive people. And for many years, this has been so. However, in the hope that it will make our alliance so much stronger, and that each planet can learn many things about the other, we are finally willing to lift this barrier of secrecy, and we invite you, dear students, to come to our planet, and experience our culture, in hope that in return you will grant our initial request, and help to rebuild Nourasia alongside us"

There was an outbreak of excited muttering at this, a trip to Nourasia! Eva's excited bubble swelled happily, her most hopeful wish had been confirmed. She could get to see Aikka again; at least she hoped she would. Her bubble deflated a little, would she be able to see him? She had no time to brood on this, Aquila had started talking again

"... At the moment you will most likely be staying in housing that has been built especially for you and other visitors, not too far from the Royal Palace. At this moment nothing is definite, but it is hoped that at the end of your stay, you will be able to have an audience with the Royal Family, so the King can thank you in person for all the hard work you will no doubt help us to complete" At this the Headmaster, who was standing to the side of Aquila, glared at the students, as though daring any one of them not to give their whole heart into rebuilding Nourasia.

Eva exchanged a glance with Hannah, who leaned toward her "Well, when Finnigan was saying we might be studying Nourasia, I didn't realise she'd take it literally," she whispered, sniggering. Eva smirked, and then Hannah straightened up, as assembly had ended, and the students were being dismissed from the hall.

"Please collect a letter from your teacher on the way out!" called the principal. Hannah and Eva exchanged looks again. That explained the weirdness this morning.

Miss Blakeham was standing a few feet away from the door; all thumbs to hand each student a letter before they were swept away. Eva took hers rather eagerly. It was a rather official letter, embossed with both the logo of the Earth Coalition and the logo on Aquila's cloak clasp. The fine print of the letter repeated everything Aquila had said to them, and at the bottom there were three signatures. That of the school principal, the Earth president and a loopy signature which was captioned as that of the Nourasian King. There was also the standard school consent form to sign off and bring back.

"Well at least now we get to have a vaguely interesting senior year," muttered Hannah sarcastically.

"Yeah" said Eva, staring at her letter, thinking of Nourasia, and Aikka, "a real interesting year"


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: I'm sorry this one is a bit shorter than the first two, but I am working on Chapter 4 an it will be longer than this, an will cover more of the story :) **

**Review please :) an enjoy!**

**Chapter 3 – Arrival**

It had been a fortnight since Lord Aquila's visit. Consent forms had been signed and returned, although Hannah had had to request a fresh copy of the letter several times before it finally made it to her house and back to school again. Final letters had been issued, and now students were making the final adjustments to their packed belongings before the shuttle for Nourasia left the following morning.

Eva herself was in her room, stood over her large suitcase and double checking the large quantity of clothes packed inside. She had all her summery shorts and tops as recommended, and also several pairs of her baggiest and torn jeans for any construction work they may have been doing, and her best dress for the audience with the king. There was to be a celebration when they had their audience with the king, the nature of which no body was sure about. Now all that was left was her pyjamas, toiletries and make up. She packed it all in and amazingly the zip simply glided shut. Eva grinned, satisfied that she had not overloaded her suitcase. She checked her little side bag that she would have with her on the shuttle, that contained a book, her passport, a small lunch and her music player

With nothing left to do, Eva sat in the chair by her desk, and leaned backwards on it, staring into space. She remembered the races well, she remembered everyone that she had met on that fabulous, crazy and ultimately life changing journey. More often than not she wondered what these people were up to, and how the race had changed their day to day life. She remembered Rush, that friendly giant who was so desperate to seek out revenge against the Crogs, he had nearly paid with his life. She remembered watching helpless as Toros had driven his ship, with Rush clinging to it, into the solid stone bridge. She knew that he was also busy putting his planet back together, for Byrus had suffered terribly under Crog occupation. She remembered Lord Furter, who had been killed during the last race; she wondered what his men were doing without him.

Most of all she remembered Aikka. She remembered how at times, he had been the only one she could call friend, as her own team could not even support her decisions and trust her judgement. She then remembered how that had reversed completely, how he had turned on her completely and utterly without warning, how she had had only Jordan to fall back on for comfort. Jordan. How often she thought of him. Sometimes, she would stare wistfully into the sky and a small part of her mind would wonder if he was looking back on her, whether her hated her for running away from her title that he had claimed in her place. She wondered if she would ever get the chance to see him again and look into his eyes and tell him over and over how sorry she was, how ashamed she was of her cowardice. She sighed and pushed all these thoughts out of her head. The flight to Nourasia left pretty early in the morning, she would need a few hours sleep.

...

She dozed off to be woken what felt like seconds later by her father with a cup of strong coffee. Eva gulped it down whilst fumbling for some deodorant to freshen up; she had fallen asleep in her travelling clothes. She fixed her slightly tousled hair and applied a small amount of makeup. After throwing a few last minute necessities in her case, she lugged it down the stairs and Don helped her load it into the boot of the car.

Eva and Don arrived at the port to find the rest of her class standing inside the main lobby, all looking rather ruffled and bleary-eyed from the early wake up call. Eva soon found Hannah and Jenny, and Hannah was yawning so thickly it was hard for her to form a coherent sentence.

"Maaaan, I'm so t-tired, how l-long is this f-flight?" she muttered

"Hours, at least," Jenny murmured in response.

Suddenly there was a great hustle and bustle amongst the students; it was time for them to board their flight. Eva clutched her bag closer to her and joined the throng of students boarding the craft. As she got on, she gave one last wave to her father. Once the students were on the plane, there was the usual debate over who would sit where. Eva and Hannah managed to get a seat together and Jenny had the seat in front of them to herself. The craft took off, and a gale of excited chatter broke out, anticipating what was waiting for them at the end of the flight. Hannah slipped on her headphones and a music magazine, and was listening to her music whilst tapping out the beat on the pages. Jenny swivelled in her seat to talk to someone in the opposite row. Eva merely stared out the window and wondered what would happen on this trip, whether she would be able to see Aikka.

After a few hours, the craft entered the Nourasian atmosphere and the atmosphere amongst the students was instantly tainted with nervous excitement. The craft touched down on Nourasian soil. They were here.


	4. Chapter 4

**Voila! Here is a new chapter, quite a bit longer than the last one. Much thanks to Mystery Angle for helping me through my temporary writers block 3 Reviews please**

**Chapter 4 – Getting to know the locals**

Eva and her fellow students stumbled off the craft, achier and more tired from the long flight. They were dying to go to their accommodation and sleep off the jet lag. But Nourasia had other ideas in store for them. Lord Aquila was waiting for them a small distance away from the craft, along with Canaan, Aikka's fencing master. Eva's heart lurched in her chest and she hurriedly crammed her hat down on her head, praying he would not recognise her and create a scene. The Race of Oban was still a government secret on earth; no one knew what had happened.

Through their tiredness, they took in their surroundings. The first thing that struck them was how ruined the planet really was. Trees had been uprooted clean out of the ground; forests in the far distance had been evidently burned to the ground. You could only tell they had once been forests because of the small shrubs that were growing out of the charred ground. They could see buildings that had completely collapsed on one side, leaving rubble scattered for miles. Tents had been put up as temporary homes and were dotted all over the landscape. The students could now see local Nourasians begin to emerge from their tents and buildings to stare at them rather curiously.

The class assembled in front of Lord Aquila, who cleared his throat to address them.

"Thank you, students of Earth, for travelling to our planet to help us reconstruct our world. I shall conduct you on a tour of our city myself. Allow me to introduce Canaan, fencing master to the royal family"

Canaan looked at the students imperiously, with his trademark frown etched on his face. Eva smiled to herself; he had not changed a bit.

"What are you grinning at?"

Eva jumped and flushed a shade of pink, she had not realised Hannah had been watching her. She shrugged dismissively and Hannah raised an eyebrow but did not pursue the matter. The small scene was interrupted when Canaan began to talk.

"Greetings students, I trust that your journey was without great interruption. I will now escort you to your accommodations myself so that you may rest and refresh yourself ready for a full day of work tomorrow. For the remainder of the day you will be free to come and go from your accommodation as you please and explore the city, better to give you an idea of the task ahead"

He began walking toward the city, and the students picked up their luggage and followed him in a thoughtful silence, mulling over his words and taking in their surroundings.

However, all the students, even Eva, leapt out their skin when they heard a loud screech somewhere over their heads, a shout of "Haaaahhhh!" and a loud thud somewhere beside them accompanied by a cry of pain. Canaan gasped and ran to the place where the "thud" had come from. When the students caught up to him he was helping a small boy to his feet.

For a split second Eva had thought that it was Aikka, but further investigation showed that he was far too small to be Aikka. It had been a justifiable thought, as this boy was a very close resemblance to Aikka, although he was dressed differently. Whilst Aikka had been wearing the traditional fittings of a knight, this boy was dressed in a loose fitting white linen shirt with gold embroidery and baggy linen trousers with leather sandals. He also had a dagger hanging from his belt, but it was much smaller than Aikka's dagger had been. He was also not wearing the crown that Aikka had, and he had his hair pulled into one ponytail. His eyes, however, were the exact same shade as Aikka's, that beautiful crystal blue. It unnerved Eva to look at him. She wondered if this was Aikka's child. He couldn't have had a child already; he was barely older than she was! But then again, the Nourasian way was very different to Earth's.

Canaan was sighing as he addressed the boy, who he was still gripping by the elbow, and he had a tone similar to an exasperated parent.

"Prince Takuru, you know your parents instructed you never to wander the kingdom alone!"

The young prince stared at him with a defiant expression

"Father allows Aikka to wander around by himself! Why am I being treated like the child?"

Canaan's expression softened somewhat, and he even chuckled a little before answering.

"Because you _are_ a child, young prince, and it would break your mother's heart if something terrible happened to you. Aikka has proven that he can take care of himself in the face of danger, something that you have yet to do Takuru"

Takuru scowled in defeat and yanked his arm out of Canaan's grip. Only then did he seem to notice the presence of a large number of humans, and he simply gazed at them with a curious and interested expression. Again, just like Aquila, his gaze rested on Eva for a fraction longer than on everybody else, and he even tipped his head in an expression of faint recognition. The consistent odd glances were making Eva nervous for what would happen when and if she happened to bump into Aikka. And then she looked up and her heart beat sped up. Canaan had also noticed her, and worse, he looked like he was going to open his mouth and say something. Not here, she prayed, staring at him with a frantic expression, willing him to understand, not front of these people. Thankfully he seemed to understand, and gave her a small nod before turning away. Thankfully none of the group had noticed this bizarre exchange; they were too busy engaging in conversation with Takuru. They were as fascinated with him as he was with them

"So you're the prince? Like, you'll be king when your father's not around?" one girl was asking with a curious expression. Takuru shook his head

"Not me, my brother, Prince Aikka," he explained.

Eva chuckled inwardly at herself. Takuru was only Aikka's brother. Trust her to freak out and jump to conclusions.

"What were you trying to do up there anyway?" asked Hannah, "scare us all to death?" Takuru let out a guilty chuckle.

"Impress, more like. Father was telling Aikka about how we had to be ready to greet the human children today, and I wanted to see for myself. But you're all older than I thought you would be. I thought there would be children my age to play with" he mumbled as he scowled at the ground. He sounded genuinely disappointed. The girls giggled amongst themselves and the boys stared at him sympathetically.

Lord Aquila cleared his throat to summon everyone's attention.

"Now that we are all acquainted, we must press on with the tour. Your highness, perhaps you would like to lead the party?" he offered with a small bow to Takuru. The boy looked a bit bewildered at suddenly being addressed so formally, but gathered his wits and threw his chest out in a show of importance, which looked quite comical with his tiny 8 year old body. The students fell back into line with the teachers and Takuru stood at the front between Canaan and Aquila. Eva noticed how the two men unconsciously placed one hand on their swords when Takuru took his place, and she realised that they must also be his bodyguards.

They started walking toward the city, which also took them through a few patches of tents. Men looked up from fields they were ploughing to shout in welcome to their prince and wave at the students. Children came running up to them to ask them questions about their different skin and clothing. Women smiled and gave them loaves of fresh baked bread and bowed with their hands clasped, which Eva learnt was the Nourasian sign of welcome

Eva had always known that Nourasians prided themselves on generally being a peaceful and welcoming people, and these people were certainly living up to the reputation. The students were also joining in the fun, daring their friends to try some of the stranger looking delicacies, and roaring with laughter if they pulled an expression of disgust. Hannah, out of politeness, tried an odd looking Nourasian sweet, and ended up enjoying it, shoving several more into a bag while an old Nourasian woman smiled at her fondly. Jenny accepted a Nourasian flower from a shy looking small boy, giving him a glowing smile which made the boy turn red with embarrassment.

One thing Eva really admired was their clothing. The Nourasians dressed in simple, loose clothing. Men wore lose linen pants with long tunic shirts, with tough leather sandals to enable them to work the fields, and the women wore loose fitting white dresses, with intricate braids in their hair, often with beads and flowers woven in. The children wore loose linen pyjamas like Takuru's, only without as much extravagant embroidery. Eva smiled as she saw men leading out the familiar giant beetles, only the ones out here were towing large carts full of grain product or strange bird creatures whose squawk sounded much similar to chickens. The other students were staring at the large beetles rather apprehensively, until a friendly looking elderly man came up to them.

"I know you humans aren't used to beetles this large, but they're perfectly friendly. Me an' Shipo here" he nodded at his beetle "are headed up to the city as well. You folks want a ride?" The students eagerly accepted, and there was a flurry of activity as they scrambled into the empty cart Shipo was pulling, passing their luggage up to be piled in as well. Aquila and Canaan stepped up into the wagon with ease, and both extended a hand to pull Takuru in, who clambered over a few students and seated himself in a space between Hannah and Eva. Hannah grinned and offered him a sweet from her bag, which he gratefully accepted. The old man, who introduced himself as Nabo, urged the beetle on and they trundled off, the students laughing and joking, sharing food and drinking in a much better view of the Nourasian landscape. The leaves on the trees were brilliant shades of orange and red, like an Earth autumn, but Takuru explained that they were always this colour and Nourasian trees never shed their leaves. He also seemed fascinated by Eva's explanation of winter, as Nourasia never had snow.

"The nights are cold, but we never have a whole season of cold. Snow sounds like a lot of fun. I shall have to beg Father to allow me to accompany him on a visit to Earth during this 'winter' season.

"What seasons do you have then?" asked Eva.

"We have the dry season, which is now, and we have the wet season, which doesn't start for a good while yet, so you shouldn't be here to witness it. The dry season is wonderful, as it is a long summer of beautiful days and long warm evenings. But we also need the wet season to survive, as that is when we grow all our crops to last us through the dry season. That is what life is all about, a balance between survival and fun," he explained with a childish grin. Eva smiled. He was wise for an 8 year old.

"Where do you live Takuru?" she asked him.

"Where all princes live, I believe. In a palace"

"What's it like in the palace?" Surprisingly, Takuru's ears drooped when Eva asked him this and he looked quite miserable all of the sudden.

"It's quite lonely now. I used to be very close to my brother, but now that he's come of age he's always having lessons with Father, preparing himself to rule Nourasia when Father passes away, which hopefully won't be for a long time, but being a Nourasian King requires a lot of work and preparation. Part of ruling is in a person's blood, we believe, but we also need to learn how to connect with our people. Aikka believes that a King should be a father, brother and friend to his people and that requires a lot of a person's heart, soul and mind. I do believe that my brother will be a great King, but I wish just once in a while that he would come and play with me like he used to" he looked like he was going to cry and Eva was struck with guilt for bringing it up. Hurriedly she cast around for a change of subject before he did burst into tears.

She was struck with inspiration when she saw clusters of buildings begin to emerge on the horizon. She nudged Hannah and Takuru and pointed to them.

"Hey Takuru, is that the city right there?" he followed the direction she was pointing and nodded.

"Yes, that is our city of Dalaan"

The other students had pointed it out to each other and now they were all clambering toward the front of the wagon to get a better view, ignoring teacher's protests that they would fall off the wagon if they weren't careful.

They could see that Dalaan was in terrible ruin, but it had still retained some of its majesty. It was also home to a large market. As Shipo pulled the wagon through the stalls, they could see more locals coming to welcome them. More women bowed and children ran behind the wagon, laughing and waving at the students, often stumbling over themselves in their efforts to keep up. Mothers with small babies in their arms pointed at the wagon for their children.

Eva grinned at the relaxed atmosphere. She was going to enjoy this trip.

**Hope you enjoyed this fun installment! Next chapter miiigghht be an Aikka POV. Not quite sure yet...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here it is :D an Aikka POV chapter! Enjoy and review please! I must also ask if anyone is interested in being a beta reader for me? Noticing a lot of mistakes now that I had not accounted for. PM if interested :)**

**Chapter 5 – Chance meeting**

Aikka's POV

The scene outside the palace was a scene of relative calm, with a gentle breeze lazily ruffling the leaves on the trees. Inside the palace was complete chaos. Servants were darting from room to room, armed with all manner of cleaning materials, shouting at each other to go and check other parts. Due to an error with building the new apartments, it had been decided at completely the last minute that the visiting humans would be staying in the west wing of the palace and now the servants were falling over themselves trying to ensure that everything would be in order for their dangerously imminent arrival. Young maids were staggering all over the place, heaps of linen sheets piled precariously high in their skinny arms. The older women were ensuring that every ornamental suit of armour was polished until it was glowing.

Aikka smirked as he recognised the voice of Kuru, the Captain of the Royal Guard, ringing through the corridor, bellowing at the younger soldiers to straighten up and hold their spears at the correct angle. Since the Nourasians were a naturally peaceful people, the Royal Guard were more of a formality than a necessity, although they had been recruited in their hundreds to help expel the Crogs from Daalan, along with the soldiers from the Earth Coalition. And there were always a couple of the older recruits trailing his father wherever he went. Takuru almost always had one follow him around as well, although that was more for their mother's peace of mind. Aikka also sub consciously noted that he hadn't seen his brother since breakfast, and since they all had to be present for the humans' arrival, he should probably go and look for him. He had no lessons with his father today, since he was overlooking the preparation of the humans' accommodation and his mother was probably in her chambers preparing herself for the humans' arrival.

Knowing that that would take a while, Aikka sighed and got to his feet. He exited his chambers and set off down the corridor. The guards outside his door bowed to him and he nodded at them. He manoeuvred himself deftly through the wave of servants running around, and they dropped everything to bow hurriedly to him. He smiled and bowed back and moved on. As he walked he happened across Kuru, who bowed to him.

"Your highness," he said in his deep voice

"Kuru," he nodded "You would not have happened to see my brother this afternoon?"

Kuru frowned and shook his head "No your highness, the last I heard, he had left for a ride on G'Dar. He told me you had agreed to loan G'Dar"

Aikka cursed to himself. No, he had not agreed to loan out G'Dar to his brother. Takuru had been doing things like this for a while. Just last week he had _borrowed_ his bow and arrows for archery practise.

Aikka pushed the thoughts out of his head. His younger brother was loose somewhere in the kingdom and there would be hell to pay if he wasn't back soon.

"Kuru, dispatch any soldier that is not helping prepare the palace and search for Takuru!" Aikka shouted as he headed to the stable, intending to take the first spare beetle he found and take it to the air. But when he got the stable, he got the shock of his life. G'Dar was standing in the courtyard, being tended to by the stable boys and clicking his feelers contentedly. But there was no sign of Takuru.

Soon enough, he spotted the stable master, Taichi.

"Taichi!" he yelled in a strained voice, "Did my brother return with my beetle?" Taichi shook his head.

"No, your highness. No one has seen your brother all afternoon, and with all due respect, the humans are due here in a few short minutes"

Aikka was now starting to panic. That surely meant Mother and Father had most likely noticed Takuru's absence. He was distracted by a few guards running up to him.

"Prince Aikka," they murmured respectfully, placing a fist over their heart, "we have searched the entire palace for Prince Takuru. He is nowhere to be found" Aikka groaned and pressed his fingers to his temples, trying to nurse his growing headache, when he noticed Kuru sprinting towards him.

"Prince Aikka," he gasped, completely out of breath, also placing a fist on his chest, "I have received word from Lord Aquila and Canaan that your brother is currently in their care. They assure me that he is completely fine, and he will be coming back with the human students"

Aikka seemed to go weak with relief, until he could hear his father calling him.

King Lao came striding across the stable courtyard, and he looked in a foul mood. Servants were scattering left and right to avoid him, and bowing with flustered expressions. Lao ignored them all.

"Prince Aikka, how could you have allowed your brother to wander off alone? Your only duty today was to ensure he stayed in the palace to prepare himself and you have failed spectacularly! How are you going to protect your people when you become King if you are this incapable of looking after your own brother?"

Aikka waited until his father had stopped shouting before he responded

"Yes, Father, I was very inattentive of Takuru, please, forgive me. But he has been found and he is safe with Lord Aquila and Canaan," Aikka said calmly

"Yes, your majesty, the young prince is safe," Kuru intervened, "I also hear he is helping to entertain the humans on their journey here. He seems to have become very popular amongst them"

Lao glared from Kuru to Aikka while he considered his response. Aikka stared at his father with what he hoped was a politely innocent expression. Finally, he responded.

"Fine, I will let this go. But next time Aikka, you may not be so lucky. Takuru may not be found safe the next time he wanders off. Now, I have to go and find your mother. Go and take your seat in the throne room and STAY THERE!"

Aikka watched his father stride away with his heart pounding in his throat. He was consumed with terrible guilt for letting Takuru wander off. As he walked towards the throne room he remembered how close he and Takuru used to be. They used to run through the halls with wild abandon, racing each other. He had been very protective of his little brother. He remembered when he was a small child, watching his mother place baby Takuru in his cot. He remembered looking at his baby brother's face and vowing there and then that he would not let anything harm his brother. He remembered when his father had ordered him to take Takuru and barricade himself in his chambers during the Crog invasion. Takuru had only been a toddler and he was wailing for their mother the whole time. Aikka had wrapped his arms around Takuru protectively and held him until he calmed, and that was how the crogs who burst through the door found them, sleeping under the bed, with their hands clasped in the Nourasian sign of friendship. Things had not changed much as they grew up. They ate together, played together and sometimes Takuru had come into Aikka's room at night, refusing to sleep alone because of a bad dream he'd had. Aikka would then lift up his blanket in a gesture of invitation and Takuru would clamber in gratefully.

And then, everything had changed. Aikka came of age. The Great Race came around, and he was selected to compete. He remembered how Takuru had cried when Aikka told him he couldn't come with them; how a servant had had to talk Takuru into letting go of him. And then he remembered all the people he'd met. Especially Molly. If he was honest with himself, the reason he had developed such a fascination with Molly was because she reminded him so much of his brother. She had been determined, feisty and stubborn, and refused to back down from an argument. Just like Takuru. He had prayed that things would return to normal with his brother when he returned. Unfortunately, things were anything but normal for the two brothers.

Since Aikka was now of age, the time had come for him to commence private studies with his father, where he would listen to him talk about how challenging it was to be a King, but how rewarding it could be. Between studies with his father, helping the people to rebuild Nourasia and other princely duties, Aikka had had no time for old games with his brother. He knew it hurt his brother, but he had no other option. He simply didn't have time anymore.

Aikka cursed in pain when he suddenly walked into something very solid. Stepping back and rubbing his forehead, he realised that his trail of thought had brought him all the way to the throne room. Sighing, he stepped inside for what would be a very long afternoon.

The throne room was large, and quite brightly lit, giving it a warm, cheerful ambiance. His mother was the only monarch present, already knelt on her cushion. The name throne room was very deceiving, as instead of large chairs that he knew the humans used to show importance, Nourasian monarchs instead knelt on cushions raised on platforms, the height of the platform correlating with importance. The King had the highest platform, with the Queen next to him. The princes shared a platform a few inches down.

Aikka walked across the room and bowed to his mother, before kneeling himself onto his cushion.

"Prince Aikka," said Queen Nori, extending her hands for him to come to her. He grasped her hands in the sign of greeting, before she raised a hand and placed it on his forehead, in the sign of a mother's love for her child. She nodded her head for him to go and take his seat. He ascended the steps and knelt himself on his cushion, staring at the empty cushion next to him with a mixture of guilt and apprehension.

"I heard about what happened between you and your father. It was wrong of you to allow Takuru to wander off by himself, but perhaps your father was a little too hard on you. Do try and forgive him. The last few days have been extremely trying for him" Aikka smiled at his mother

"The last few days have been extremely trying for all of us. There is nothing that needs forgiving Mother" Nori smiled at her son before she turned her attention to the door that had just opened.

Lao came strolling across the room, flanked at usual by his guards, and he ascended the steps onto his platform, kneeling down on his platform and giving his queen an affectionate kiss on the forehead. He glanced at his son with a small smile before clearing his throat to speak.

"The preparations are complete. The humans will be entering the room any minute now. Best behaviour everybody"

"But my love," Nori said in a strained voice, "Where is Takuru?" Lao patted her hand reassuringly.

"Calm yourself my pet. Takuru is indeed perfectly safe with the humans, and he has become most popular, listen, you can hear him now"

Aikka turned his ears to the door, and indeed he could hear Takuru's voice carrying toward them. He was giving an impromptu tour of the palace, pointing out the important ornaments and identifying people in portraits.

The guards bowed and pulled open the enormous bronze doors.

A group of humans shuffled through the door, clearly unsure of what to do. At the front of them Takuru was striding along looking rather proud of himself. Aikka looked at him and gestured to the cushion next to him. Takuru grinned and ran along the hall, scrambling up onto the platform and nestling himself comfortably on his cushion. Without warning he threw his arms around his brother's waist and gave him a hug. Awkwardly, Aikka patted his brother on the head and then lifted him off gently. Nori smiled at her sons and several girls sighed in admiration of the moment, before their teacher called them to order.

"I will call you out in register order, and you will approach the platform, and bow to the King and his Queen," said a woman with loose brown hair who must have been their teacher. She placed spectacles on her face and lifted a sheet of paper to her eyes.

"Hannah Abbot!" she called.

A girl with short brown hair with a purple woollen hat, wearing a t-shirt and jeans approached the platform and bowed to Lao, who nodded at her curtly. She rose awkwardly and shuffled off.

"Jennifer Abbot!"

A girl much shorter than Hannah, but with the same eyes and hair, approached the platform. She had one long plait in her hair and had placed a moon rose in her hair, which she must have picked somewhere. Nori smiled at her decoration and Lao again merely nodded.

On and on the list went, and over the few minutes Aikka saw the most weird and wonderful things, including a boy with a drawing on his skin which Takuru said was called a tattoo.

"David Evans!"

A boy with an untidy mop of light brown hair and loose fitting shirt and jeans approached the platform, bowed to the King and moved off again quickly. There was something oddly familiar about him, but Aikka could not place what it was. It was definitely in his face though.

The list picked up again and by the R's Aikka was starting to get bored. Takuru was enjoying himself though, waving at the students he recognised and had spoken to, and often getting a wave in response.

Later, most of the children had bowed and Aikka was glad that they were almost done. And then he felt his heart skip a beat.

"Eva Wei!"

An all too familiar girl with a shock of red and black hair, although this time dressed in blue jeans and a floral gypsy top was walking toward the platform. She looked nervous as well, bowing to Lao with a look of panic in her eyes. He looked at her strangely but nodded curtly. Nori looked at her with a worried expression. Aikka was becoming aware of a few sniggers from her class mates, mostly due to the fact that he had not taken his eyes off her, but he didn't care. Molly was going to see his kingdom, just like he promised.

He smiled. He was going to enjoy this visit.

**Voila! I'm sorry it took so long to get to this point. Next chapter will include a proper conversation between them and then the real fun will begin. An who can guess at what is so familiar about this David character? All will be revealed!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I am SO sorry this took a little longer than usual! Been busy with things in the outside world, such as the big bad world of uni applications! Scary, but providing a lot of plot thread ideas. Imagine, Eva going to university? That could be a good story :D Anyhoo, I'm rambling, read on people! **

**Chapter 6 – A perfect reunion**

Eva left the throne room with her classmates with a mixture of fear and relief in her stomach. She had just come practically face to face with Aikka, and while he hadn't greeted her, he had at least not mentioned the race. And that was the most important thing for Eva. It was infuriating that her contribution to preserving the human race could never be celebrated, but she was bound by government orders. No one could know.

She was interrupted in these musings by Hannah playfully nudging her in the side.

"Am I the only one that noticed that Tukuru's mysterious older brother could not take his eyes off you? Is there something you're not telling me Miss Wei?" she asked while grinning from ear to ear.

"I wouldn't be too flattered if I were her. He was probably staring at that weird hair of hers. Now even the Nourasians think you look like a total freak, pilot girl!" said a snide high pitched voice behind them, which was followed by a chorus of giggling. Eva sighed. She knew this part of the trip was inevitable. She exchanged looks with Hannah before they spun round to come face to face with Katie and her crew.

Katie was the class bully and self-titled Daddy's princess. Her dad owned the most popular shopping mall in their home town and the name was known all over the place. And Katie was the type of girl who would not let you forget that in a hurry. She was the worst type of bully going, because while she couldn't throw a punch out of fear for her expensively manicured nails, she knew exactly what to say that would either make you see red with rage or end up a sobbing wreck on the floor.

She'd had it in for Eva the day she transferred to that school, because now everyone knew her as Don Wei's daughter, whose racing franchise was probably just as popular as Katie's mall. Katie couldn't afford to have competition.

"What do you want Katie?" Hannah demanded aggressively, who was often the butt of Katie's jokes for her position on the girl's football team.

"I just want to make sure that you and pilot girl don't show up our entire school in front of the Nourasian's. They obviously don't like you already, the way they were staring at you"

"They probably dislike sluts like you more than they dislike Eva's freaky hair," said Hannah, quirking an eyebrow. Katie opened her mouth to respond, but the sound of the teacher calling them to order made her close her mouth and storm away. Hannah and Eva sniggered.

They were being handed their luggage by Nabo, who had come to the palace to collect beetle dung from the stables to use as fertiliser on his crop fields. Hannah, Jenny and Eva were the last to collect their luggage, watching him take the wagon to the back of the palace and thanking the heavens that they had gotten a ride off him before he collected his cargo, and that Nabo had mentioned that he washed his wagon thoroughly between cargo loads.

They were called to the entrance hall of the west wing, where they would now be staying. They were looking around interestedly at the art, before being split into their separate gender groups and herded up separate enormous flights of stairs. The maid guiding the girls threw open an enormous pair of bronze double doors and lead them through. They came into an enormous open corridor with many doors leading off to dormitories.

"The bedrooms each take three girls, and there are washing facilities for each room," the maid explained to their teacher before hurrying away to carry on with her work. Hannah, Eva and Jenny immediately shuffled together and were shown into a room, leaving Katie's crew out in the corridor to bicker furiously over who got to stay in a room with her.

"I told you guys we should have fed them to Nabo's beetle the first chance we got," Hannah muttered, slamming the door shut to muffle the sound of the bickering.

"Aaaw, but Shipo was nice. Why would you do that to him Hannah? He's never done anything horrible to us," Jenny retorted, smirking.

Eva smiled at them both before a knock at the door distracted them. Eva moved to pull it open and found Takuru grinning at them.

"I trust you like your accommodation?" he asked.

"Hey Mister, this is the girls' corridor. No gentleman!" Eva said playfully.

"Well I am a prince, and this is my home, so I should be allowed to go wherever I like," said Takuru, throwing himself down on a bed next to Hannah "Anyway, I wanted to ask you about my brother. He hasn't been the same since he set eyes on you in the throne room. Do you know him from somewhere?" he looked at Eva with speculating eyes. Hannah and Jenny exchanged grins and Eva stared at the ceiling fishing for a reply. However a second knock diverted her attention and she got the shock of her life.

Prince Aikka was stood in the doorway, looking at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, were you looking for your brother?" she asked him, praying he would take Takuru and leave. Now was not the moment.

"No, actually, I was looking for you," Aikka replied, "my mother was most concerned for you in the throne room. She feared that you looked rather unwell. Do you require medical attention?" he asked, looking at her with a concerned expression. Eva could feel the stares of Takuru and her friends pressing into her face.

"Uh, no, no, I'm absolutely fine," she replied

He regarded her for a minute, and then seemed to notice her friends.

"If you ladies would like entertainment, Takuru and I would be most honoured to give you a tour of the city ourselves," he offered, bowing. Eva was about to open her mouth and respond, but Hannah cut in

"Well, Takuru wanted to learn a bit more about Earth culture, so we were going to have a little bit of a chat with him, but you guys go ahead and have a little walk around!" she exclaimed, nudging Takuru to comply, who suddenly cottoned on and grinned innocently at his brother. Aikka looked a bit bemused, but nodded unsurely.

"Very well, shall we be going then, Miss, Eva, wasn't it?" he asked. Eva nodded

"Uh, yeah. My name's Eva" she replied with a half smile. He smiled back and stood aside for her to exit first. As she departed she shot an _I'm going to kill you_ expression at Hannah, who grinned back with two thumbs up.

As she left the corridor, Eva caught a glimpse of Katie and her crew staring at her looking completely shocked, which cheered her up.

Aikka and Eva didn't talk much until they had left the west wing, and Aikka checked that no humans were around before speaking.

"I know that you are forbidden from revealing the events of Oban to your friends. Father told me that your leader had mentioned it during their peace talks. But I still hoped that I would be able to speak with you alone. Truly, Molly, it is good to see you again," he said, smiling with relief. Eva grinned back.

"I've missed you Aikka, but please, call me Eva," she insisted. He nodded in agreement, and then raised an eyebrow as if struck by a thought.

"It's quite rude really. I'm standing here, keeping you all to myself, when I know someone who's even more desperate to see you," he said, grinning

Eva stared at him in shock. "Canaan? I thought he hated me?" she said, unsure.

Aikka stared at her, and then began to laugh. It echoed all around the enormous hallways. Eva waited until he had stopped laughing. "Who then?" she demanded.

He wiped tears of laughter from his eyes before gesturing for her to follow him. He led her all through the palace, through some beautiful gardens. When he stopped at what he said was the palace stables, Eva knew instantly who they were going to see.

"G'Dar!" she cried in delight when Aikka stopped outside a large stall, her happy bubble swelling painfully when she heard the familiar screech in response. Aikka threw open the door and Eva was almost flattened by the beetle, who calmed when she placed a hand affectionately on his head.

Unknown to Aikka and Eva, they were being watched. Overlooking the two teenagers were Aikka's parents. Nori was smiling whilst Lao was looking strained.

"He should not be follying about with that girl! He should be attending to his duties as a prince!" Lao was muttering, scowling. Nori rolled her eyes

"And his main duty right now is to be leading by example in this new alliance, which he seems to be doing splendidly. Look dear, this is the happiest I've seen our son in months. Won't you be happy for him?" when Lao continued to mutter darkly about Aikka's duties and responsibilities, her tone turned rather sharp.

"He's been lonely Lao. It was by your insistence with his studies that he hasn't even been able to spend time with his own brother like he used to. Now he's found someone who shares his love of racing. For his sake, don't ruin this as well for him!" Lao turned to stare at his wife incredulously. She'd never spoken like that to him! Before he could open his mouth and respond, she'd gathered her skirts and left him rather hurriedly, leaving her husband to ponder his thoughts.

As Eva and Aikka sat around in the stable courtyard, throwing scraps of food to G'Dar, they talked. About everything, life during the race and after. Eva listened in morose silence while Aikka explained some of his more violent actions during the race.

"Despite all of that, I still felt guilt stabbing through me every time I aimed a harsh word at you, or lifted my bow and arrows against you, and I don't know how many times I have to apologise before you will forgive me," he explained with his ears drooped. Eva placed a hand over his and squeezed it reassuringly

"Aikka, they would have killed your parents if you disobeyed. You showed unswerving loyalty to your family and that's all anyone can ever ask of you"

"But it meant compromising my loyalty to my friends, and that goes against my code as well"

"You did what you had to do. And now your kingdom is safe and the crogs are gone. It all worked out for us in the end"

Aikka smiled at her before turning his attention to the courtyard entrance, where clattering footsteps were becoming louder and louder. Takuru, Hannah and Jenny were running towards them, looking quite pleased with themselves.

"Well Katie's storming around the girls corridor screaming her head off about you bagging a personal tour from the_ older_ prince just for looking unwell, but how are you guys?" said Hannah, smirking and throwing herself down next to Eva. Eva grinned.

"We could tell you what she was saying about you, but it would be totally inappropriate to use that kind of language in front of Takuru," Jenny added, sitting on Hannah's lap, who promptly shoved her off onto the floor. Takuru grinned and sat next to his brother.

"I heard a decent amount of it, and I thought we Nourasians could be sharp tongued when we're angry," Takuru speculated, frowning.

Aikka raised an eyebrow at his brother, and then got to his feet.

"Well, now that we are all back together, how about that tour of the city I offered?" he said, smiling. The girls shrieked in agreement and Aikka actually scooped Takuru onto his shoulders, something he hadn't done in a while. Nori watched her sons and the earth girls leave the stables, smiling. Things were going to get better.

...

Takuru and Aikka showed the girls everything the city of Daalan had to offer, from the street performers, to the market itself. Girls in white dresses tied in at the waist with gold belts danced while men beat drums and played flutes, although they stopped their performance to bow to their princes, who waved back. Women moved around the marketplace with large baskets of fruit and grain balanced on their heads, while their children walked beside them. The girls took in everything about the market. Eva was admiring a jewellery stand when a voice behind her made her jump.

"Didn't know you were into jewellery, Wei"

Eva whirled around in surprise and found herself face to face with David. She blushed and fought to remain calm.

"Well, you know, the jewellery here is so much more, different, than ours. It's rather nice," she said, waving an airy hand at the necklaces and bracelets on display. David smirked.

"So you're into stuff that's... different. I'll bear that in mind. See you around, Wei" David placed his hands in his pockets and slouched off, mooching around in his usual moody style. Eva sighed in relief, only to jump out her skin again when Hannah popped up behind her.

"I saw you talking to David, tell me what he said!"

"Who's David?" Aikka asked, appearing with Takuru and Jenny. Jenny instantly grinned in a knowing way.

"Eva likes him," replied Hannah, smirking widely. Eva went red again and swatted at Hannah's head, who dodged, laughing.

Aikka frowned, remembering the David boy in the throne room, who reminded him quite a lot of... no, it couldn't be.

Takuru noticed the sudden and unusual change in his brother's mood, nudging him worriedly. Aikka shook his head and smiled reassuringly at his brother.

He would think about this later.

**Well, that is a lot to think on.. till next chapter people! *roll theme music* **


	7. Chapter 7 - Conversations

**I am so sorry for how long I've been away! I have not forgotten about this story, I had a lot going on like exams and starting University, and I had to think long and hard about where I wanted this story to go. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Oban Star-Racers, although I do own a copy of the art book, which is awesome enough**

Chapter 7 –Conversations

Morning dawned as it always did on Nourasia during the dry season – bright and sunny. Shafts of sunlight stole through the windows of the dormitory and illuminated the room. Eva was the first to wake. Sitting up in bed, she glanced at the sleeping forms of her friends. Confident that they would not wake for a while, she slipped out of bed and dressed in jeans, loose vest top and her trusty black converse. Before exiting the room, she grabbed her new camera from the bedside table. Her father had been encouraging her to develop hobbies other than star racing, in an attempt to keep her off the race track and out of danger. He had been so desperate that he had offered to pay for anything she needed, therefore when she had finally decided upon photography he had bought her the camera. Standing in the hall outside her dormitory, she decided to take an early morning walk in the grounds and take some shots before returning to the hall for breakfast.

She knew from the brief tour the previous day that there was a rather idyllic garden right outside the west wing, so she darted down the stairs and out through enormous wooden doors into the garden.

The scenery that greeted her was so mesmerising that she temporarily forgot about taking pictures and just stared at it all. Many trees with their red and orange leaves shimmered gently in the light morning breeze. There were also bushes covered with pale pink blossoms and flowers in the most vivid shades of any colour imaginable. She could hear birds singing high in the trees and could hear running water a few feet away. She followed the sound and found a small stream that ran into a pond. There were a few blossoms perched on the top that reminded her of pond lilies back home. She decided to take a shot of them and brought her camera up to her eye. She had just pressed the shutter button when a familiar voice made her jump so badly she almost dropped her camera.

"How does that work?"

She turned to face the voice and found Aikka staring at the camera curiously. Eva noted that he was not dressed in his usual knight's raiment. He was instead wearing loose white trousers and shirt with intricate gold embroidery, with a leather belt around his middle. He was barefooted.

"Well, you can use it to take pictures of things around you," she explained. He frowned at this.

"Yes, I have an understanding of what it does. But how does it work?"

Eva frowned. She didn't actually know how it worked.

Aikka noticed her frown and smiled.

"No matter, I'm sure someone else will be able to tell me. How are you enjoying Nourasia?"

Eva grinned in response

"We love it here!" It's so different from life at home. Here, let me show you some pictures I already took," she said, moving to stand next to him so he could see the screen on her camera. She clicked a few buttons and brought up the display of photos for him to see, and slowly started flicking through them.

Aikka marvelled at the life Eva had built for herself after the Great Race. As well as the shots of Nourasia, which were breathtaking even for him as a native of the planet. Eva seemed to know how to perfectly position the camera so that the light reflected at all the right angles and captured the truest beauty of his home. She also showed him some pictures of her life back home, with her father and her friends. He saw how she had grown from the loud, and yet at the same time rather insecure girl he had known during the race, into a calm and confident young woman, who had finally found everything she had been looking for. He then remembered the conversation at the market, and what Hannah had mentioned about the boy, David. Aikka had his suspicions about the boy, as he looked so hauntingly familiar.

"So, this boy David, how long have you known him?" he asked her, smirking when she went bright red.

"Only a few months, he joined the school around the same time I did. We were all pretty surprised when he agreed to come on this trip," she replied quietly.

"Why? I thought all humans were curious to see our world," he asked her. She shrugged

"He's not much of a people person. He hardly talks to anyone at school. Never even comes to parent teacher conferences so I've no idea who his parents are"

"Parent teacher conferences?"

"Oh, they're where your parents meet with your teachers to review your progress at school, like your grades and stuff"

"Ah"

Eva was spared thinking of a reply when she heard other students begin to get up and head to the hall for breakfast. Among them, she could hear Hannah and Jenny calling her name.

"That's my friends looking for me, I should go. See you around!" she called, taking off for the doors to join her friends.

She joined with Hannah and Jenny in the corridor leading to the hall.

"Where you been girl? We woke up and you were gone!" Hannah demanded

"I was out exploring. It was fine, I got some nice pictures, look," she said, switching her camera on to give them a look. After 5 minutes, she was so engrossed in her pictures that she didn't notice someone had moved to stand behind her.

"Nice pictures Wei"

She jumped, and looked to where Hannah and Jenny had been standing, but they had mysteriously moved away to talk to someone further down the corridor. She turned to face David.

"I'm pretty sure I've told you multiple times that my name is Eva", she said, daring to look him dead in the eyes, something that took a lot of nerve given that he was he a solid foot taller than her, and reasonably well muscled. He also usually walked around with an impassive expression on his face that gave no indication as to what he was thinking or feeling, which made him hard to predict.

He smirked in response.

"You might have mentioned it on occasion. Alright then _Eva_, like I said nice pictures"

She smiled. Call her crazy, but this sounded like progress.

"Thanks, photography is kind of a hobby of mine," she replied. He raised his eyebrows

"I thought you were into star racing and all that kind of stuff. Isn't your Dad Don Wei, most successful star racer manager alive?"

It was her turn to raise her eyebrows

"So you think that just because my Dad is a star racer manager that I'm into all that? Well you'd be right, but sadly my Dad is convinced I'll have some horrific accident if I even set a toe on a race track, so looks like I'm stuck with photography until I'm free of any adult authority"

He smiled at that.

"_So he is capable of smiling. Who knew?" _Eva thought to herself. Their conversation was interrupted by their teacher calling them into the hall.

As she was given a plate of bread rolls and Nourasian fruit for breakfast she went to sit a table with Hannah and Jenny who smiled knowingly and then glanced behind her. Their eyes widened as David promptly dropped into the vacant seat next to her.

"I'm sorry that I was just assuming stuff about you, because of your Dad. Trust me, I know what it's like for people to assume things about you just because of your parents," he muttered to her in a low voice, a strained expression on his face. Eva stared at him in surprise before a kick under the table from Hannah snapped her back to her senses. She let out a low giggle and it was David's turn to stare at her in surprise.

"Sorry, it's just... David Evans, apologising for something? There's something you don't hear everyday" He let out a chuckle at that.

"True. Can I confide something to you?" he suddenly asked. Eva frowned at him. Hannah and Jenny suddenly struck up a conversation, talking with their voices slightly raised so David wouldn't be overheard.

"Sure," she replied in a quavering voice, worried about what he was going to confide to her.

"My surname isn't Evans. Well technically it is, but it's not the one I was born with"

"Really? Then what's your actual surname?" Eva asked him. He looked her dead in the eyes and didn't break the eye contact as he replied

"It's Wilde"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Eva was left feeling confused for a second, not understanding why this revelation had set off a feeling of dread. Then understanding kicked in.

"_That was Jordan's last name!_" she thought to herself. David was still watching her with a strained expression on his face.

"I need to talk to you in private, meet me in the city later, after we're done working," he muttered to her, then abruptly pushed his chair back and hurried from the room, earning him and Eva a few curious stares from their classmates and the Nourasians present. Feeling the eyes on her, Eva dropped her gaze to her plate and speedily finished her meal. The minute she finished she left for her dormitory, Hannah and Jenny close on her heels.

"So what was all that about?" Hannah demanded, after they had all hurried into their room and Eva had shut the door behind them.

"He wants to see me, to talk to me after we've finished working in the city today," Eva answered.

"Wonder what he wants," Jenny murmured

"He's going to ask you out!" Hannah exclaimed

"He said he needed to talk to me, and for some reason I don't think it's to ask me out," said Eva anxiously.

Just then, the door was flung open. Katie was stood in the doorway with one of her friends on either side.

"He's probably going to tell you to stop stalking him, it's so obvious you have a crush on him," she sneered

"Probably going to tell you he doesn't like sad little pilot girls," one of her friends chimed in.

"What is your problem Katie?" Hannah demanded

"My problem is that the prince has this weird obsession with her, I saw them talking this morning. We all did" Katie stated.

"You saw Aikka again this morning?" Hannah asked with barely concealed curiosity. Eva groaned in frustration.

"Get lost Katie, this is our room," she said calmly, pointing to the door. Katie shot her a contemptuous look, before turning on her heel and walking out, her friends following close behind her. Eva shut the door again and turned to face Hannah and Jenny.

"He saw me taking pictures of gardens and wanted to know how the camera worked, that was all," she explained. But she couldn't help grimacing when she thought about how interested in David Aikka had seemed. Hannah noticed the look on her face and raised her eyebrow questioningly.

"Well, he also wanted to know about David for some reason. I mean, he seemed really insistent about it. I don't know what he was getting at... What are you grinning at?" she suddenly demanded, for an inexplicably smug look had settled on Hannah's face. Jenny also looked questioningly at her sister.

"He's jealous," Hannah stated triumphantly

"Okay, explain how you arrived at that conclusion for me? I'm missing some of your logic here," Eva asked.

"Boys only get like that when they're jealous. And I mean, he knows that you like David. He wants to get the measure of his rival. He obviously likes you," Hannah explained. Jenny's face lit up with understanding. However, Eva felt like her heart had dropped into her stomach. That couldn't be it. There was no way that was true.

"You're being ridiculous. Aikka is a prince. He's just being friendly and hospitable. Like Nourasians are supposed to be," Eva snapped huffily.

"Denial is not just a river in Egypt Eva," Hannah retorted indifferently.

"Okay, this conversation is a little thing I like to call over," Eva stated, turning to her chest of drawers to pick up her jacket and leave the room. Hannah and Jenny grabbed their own jackets and followed suite

Much later, they were standing in the centre of the city, in front of some ruined buildings. Lord Aquila and Canaan were explaining their duties for the day.

"As you can see, there is a lot of damage to these buildings. Today we will focus on clearing away the rubble and determining what can be salvaged and rebuilt. You all know your assigned groups, now let's begin our work," Lord Aquila explained before walking away to confer with an attendant. Eva, Hannah and Jenny moved to collect baskets to put rubble in to sift through for valuable items. As she walked away, she passed David, who still looked tense and did not even acknowledge her. Feeling slightly hurt, she went to another boy in their class, Ethan, who smiled at her before shovelling some rubble into her basket. She noticed Katie accepting some rubble from David. She smiled flirtatiously at him and gushed words of thanks. David looked hard at her once and then turned back to the pile of rubble. Feeling slightly better that she was not the only one being ignored, she went to sit with Hannah and Jenny while they sifted through the mess they had.

A few hours later, when it had all been cleared away, they moved on to another area of the city, leaving the builders and carpenters free to descend on the area they had just vacated. This time, they were tasked with distributing food and clothing to refugees from a village that had been utterly decimated. They had set up their camps about a mile away, so it was a long walk. Hannah and Jenny gossiped idly, while Eva kept shooting anxious glances at David, who was walking a few feet in front of them.

"_Why does he have the same surname as Jordan? Are they related? And why has he changed it to Evans?" _

Hoping that she would get some answers when she spoke to him later, she shook herself out of her stupor and joined in Hannah and Jenny's conversation.

Talking to the refugees was greatly uplifting. These people had really taken all of the recent horrors in her stride. When she mentioned this to a young woman with a young child attached to her hip, the response was startling

"For a long time we were lost, wondering if we would live to see Nourasia freed again. But now we are free, and we are safe. My children are safe, and, gods willing, their children will be safe. We will rebuild our homes soon enough, and my children have their health and their joy. We have so much to be thankful for"

The woman politely excused herself to change into her new clothes, and Eva offered to watch her child, a little girl. Eva amused her by playing peek-a-boo, and the girl was giggling madly when her mother returned.

"She's so sweet, what's her name?" Eva asked, watching the girl toddle back to her mother.

"Leila," the woman replied smiling, "and my name is Alaya. What is your name child?"

"My name's Eva"

"Such a pretty name, especially for such a pretty girl," Alaya replied, smiling again. Eva blushed, and was distracted by something hard colliding with the back of her head. She whipped her head around and looked down. A football was lying on the ground not far from her, which she identified as the object that had collided with her head. A sharp whistle made her look up again. David was grinning at her, surrounded by a group of children.

"Are you going to sit there staring at the ball or are you going to throw it back?" he called out.

Mystified by his change in behaviour, Eva could only stare at him blankly. David's grin slipped off his face, only to be replaced with an expression of mild concern. He made his way over to her, frowning.

"Did I hurt you?," he asked, crouching to look her in the eye. Mutely, she shook her head.

"Then what's wrong?" he asked insistently. Eva opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the children calling David back over, wanting to carry on with their game.

"Go on ahead, I'll be fine," she murmured. David shot her one hard look, before picking up the ball and rising to his knees.

"We'll talk about this later," he told her before running back to the children.

Eva watched him go, before turning to reassure Alaya, who was looking at her with deep concern. She rose, and left in search of a drink. The Nourasian heat was starting to affect her.


	9. Chapter 9 - The Truth

**Author's Note: I'm really sorry for the long break between chapters. Hopefully this will make up for it, for those of you who've been speculating over the mystery that is David. I'm hoping that I will now be more consistent with updates. Next one will hopefully be an Aikka POV again. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Oban Star Racers. But David and the other OCs are mine, which makes me feel a little better.**

**Chapter 9 – The Truth**

Much later that evening, Eva was stood in the market square waiting for David at a tavern he'd named as the location to meet him. He'd not actually spoken a word to her since the football incident, but when she returned to her dormitory after dinner, she'd found a folded piece of paper on her bed with the words _Beetle Arms _hastily scrawled on, in handwriting she vaguely recognised as David's from catching glimpses of his work during study hall. She'd changed into warmer attire, as Nourasian evenings got quite chilly, and headed out into the market square. No one had questioned her departure, as the students were allowed to go wherever they wanted during the evenings. She'd left a note to Hannah and Jenny explaining her absence.

She looked up in time to notice him strolling towards her. He sent her a crooked smile in greeting, which she shyly returned.

"Come on, let's get out of here. I found a place we can chat," he said when he was standing next to her. She nodded and followed him out of the market. As Eva realised that he was leading her toward the forest, she felt a sudden stab of anxiety, suddenly questioning his motives for wanting to speak to her alone. She must have made a noise, as David was not even looking at her when he called out

"You're wounding me Eva. If _that _was what I wanted, I would have been far more charming about it"

Her eyes widened at his words. Was she really that obvious?

David finally stopped walking when they reached a small clearing filled with flowers. He instantly sat down and pushed his hands through his hair. Eva, unsure of what to do, sat down opposite him. Eventually, he looked up at her.

"So, I think I owe you a few explanations," he said ruefully

"What do you mean?" Eva asked

"I told you my surname was Wilde. You want to know how I know Jordan," he replied easily.

Eva couldn't help the gasp that escaped from her.

"What do you know?" she demanded, staring at him unblinkingly

"Only as much as I need to know, Champion of Oban," he replied, grinning. Eva's eyebrows rose so high she was afraid they were going to fly off her forehead. What was going on? David's grin slid off his face.

"Jordan is my older brother. Not long after the race ended he came to see me, in a dream. He told me everything. About the race. About you. He swore me to secrecy though, so I've never told anyone else. And let's face it, who'd believe me if I did?"

"What made you decide it wasn't just a dream?" Eva asked with interest.

"He gave me these," replied David, reaching into his shirt and pulling out... Jordan's army tags, "told me to show them to you when I told you who I was so that you'd trust me. I woke up the next morning with them still clutched in my hand. That's how I knew I hadn't gone mad"

"So Jordan's your brother? Your surname is Wilde? What's with the whole Evans thing?" Eva demanded.

"It was Jordan's idea. I moved in with my Aunt, and took her surname, to make the resemblance less obvious. Parents weren't happy about it, but they had to accept that I had a good reason"

"What else was Jordan's idea?" Eva asked with a hint of ice in her tone.

"For me to get on this trip to Nourasia so I could keep an eye on you while we're here"

"Why does Jordan think I need to be watched?"

David's face took on the most serious expression she'd ever seen there.

"Something is coming. We don't know what, and we don't know when. But Jordan can feel dark forces stirring and he's willing to bet that they want something from you"

Eva's eyes widened and she felt a pang of terror. Would she ever have a peaceful life?

David placed his hands on her shoulders and shook her gently

"Jordan won't let anything happen to you. This is why he sent me here. To be his eyes on the ground and so he has someone he can trust close to you at all times"

Despite the fact that her mind was reeling from this new information, Eva managed to let out a derisive snort. Wasn't Aikka good enough to protect her? Then her eyes widened and she went rigid with fear. What about Aikka? Did he know what was happening? David sensed her change in mood and looked at her questioningly. Eva repeated her fears to him.

"Jordan said he would speak to Aikka soon. When we know what he thinks of the situation, we'll be able to make more plans for your protection" Eva nodded her assent, and then frowned again, thinking of something else David had said. He raised an eyebrow at her, inviting her to explain.

"Jordan wants you to be near me at all times? Won't it look slightly suspicious when we've barely spoken and suddenly we're together every waking moment?"

"I won't be following you around everywhere. You'll still be with Hannah and Jenny, doing whatever it is you girls do. I'll just check you're okay every so often and then be on my way. Nothing will change. No one will suspect a thing, if that's what you're worried about"

Again, Eva nodded, but couldn't help but register a slight sinking feeling in her stomach as she did. As grim as the situation sounded, she would have welcomed the excuse to spend more time with David. Maybe he wasn't as interested in her as she thought he was.

"Are you alright?" David asked, again sensing her change in mood. She forced herself to look him in the eye and nod.

"I know this is a lot to take in. I worried you were having an overload. Anyway, we should head back, before anyone notices how long we've been gone"

Eva followed him out of the clearing and back into the market square, and then up the track that would take them to the palace. Many locals waved to them as they passed, and called out greetings. Eva responded as best she could. David however, took no notice of them. Once at the palace, they separated at the staircases that led off to the dormitories; David to the boys, and Eva to the girls. Eva paused at her dormitory door, braced herself for an interrogation, and opened the door.

Hannah and Jenny were both inside, and looked up sharply at the sound of the door.

"Where have you been? The note said you only went to talk to David for a bit. You've been gone for three hours!" Hannah demanded

"I talked to David, just like the note said"

"What did you talk about?" Jenny asked with barely concealed excitement.

Eva hesitated. A large part of her desperately wanted to tell them. But she doubted they would ever believe her. Who in their right mind would believe something like that? No, she couldn't tell them.

"I... can't tell you," Eva sighed. Jenny looked at her in confusion, while Hannah was wearing an expression close to anger.

"What do you mean you can't tell us?" she demanded aggressively. Jenny stared at her sister in shock.

"We talked about some pretty private stuff, he made me promise not to tell anyone" Eva replied, starting to feel slightly unnerved. She had never kept secrets from them; she was completely out of her depth. Hannah made a disparaging noise.

"Whatever. I mean we are your best friends, but I guess that doesn't mean anything now that David's all interested in you"

"Hannah, if David doesn't want anyone knowing his private business, we can't argue with that"

"Whatever," Hannah muttered, throwing her hands up and storming out of the room. Eva watched her leave, utterly bewildered. Jenny looked at her apologetically.

"I'm sorry Eva; I don't know what that was about. I'm going to go and talk to her," Jenny stated, running out of the room after her sister. Eva waited until the door had shut, and then threw herself down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

However, she was interrupted by someone knocking on the door.


	10. Chapter 10 - A Lack of Co-operation

**A/N: I think I'm getting the hang of this "regular updates" thing. Some more reviews would be lovely, as I want to know that there are people still out there who appreciate my writing. A huge thanks to the people who have been reviewing, you guys are the reason I keep updating. Hope you all enjoy this, and I'll have the next one written as soon as possible! **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Oban Star Racers. Never have, never will. **

Chapter 10

Aikka was sitting alone in his room, reviewing documents that his father had given him. One included a list of all the noble men and women that his father had invited to the palace for the celebration in a few weeks. Exactly what the nature of this celebration was, his father wasn't saying. But it was left to Aikka to oversee the final preparations as well as ensure that the earth students continued to settle in well. That part was not giving him too much trouble. Molly (he'd never become accustomed to calling her Eva) seemed to be taking to Nourasian life very well. Any time he'd seen her she'd been engaged in conversation with the people or throwing herself into the tasks set by Aquila. His concerns about David still played on his mind occasionally, but he managed to push the thoughts aside. He hadn't caused any outright trouble, although Aquila reported that it was difficult to engage him in conversation. He made a note to continue to observe the boy whenever he was in close proximity and continued examining the list his father had given him. However, the events that transpired next caused him to drop the papers in fright.

The large ornate doors that lead to his balcony suddenly blew shut, coming together with a thud. Next, a bright light appeared in the centre of his room, growing and curling into a very familiar symbol.

"Impossible," Aikka murmured gently, staring at it as the symbol vanished but the light continued to grow. Before too long, it had taken the shape of a man. A man as familiar as the symbol that had preceded his arrival.

"Greetings Aikka, prince of Nourasia," said Jordan, staring calmly at Aikka

"What are you... why... how... what brings you here?" Aikka asked him, a million questions firing in his head but eventually settling on the obvious one. At this, Jordan's face settled into a frown.

"It's not good news I'm afraid. You might want to sit down," he said, waving a hand at the chair next to Aikka's desk. Aikka seated himself in it and took a good long look at Jordan. No longer was he wearing his military uniform. Instead, he was wearing long purple robes with gold embroidery and leather sandals. His hair was still the same. But his expression was one that Aikka recognised, having seen it for many years on his father's face. Gone was the confident, often arrogant grin he had often seen Jordan wearing. These days, his expression was neutral, but his mouth and eyebrows were set in a thin line, giving him a grim expression. The responsibility of guarding the entire universe had aged him; there was no doubt of that.

"Won't you have a seat as well?" Aikka asked, remembering his manners at last. He gestured to the armchair by his bookcase. Jordan shook his head and levitated into the air, crossing his legs under him and remaining there, floating in mid air. Aikka was taken aback for only a second and then recovered himself. Jordan took no notice of Aikka's bemusement and began speaking.

"As you know, we managed to thwart Canaletto when he attempted to claim the powers of the Avatar for himself. He was destroyed in the energy blast that occurred when I took the position of Avatar"

Jordan paused and waited for Aikka to nod his agreement with these events. He then continued

"However, over the last few months I've been noticing something occurring. A dark force is gathering. I never paid it much heed at first. It was in such a tiny corner of the galaxy that I didn't really think it would come to much. But now it's getting stronger. This is just how the return of Canaletto started, and we could all be in a lot of danger. Eva especially"

Aikka stared at him blankly, before realising he was referring to Molly. He again nodded his agreement, although he felt a familiar prickle of fear when he thought about what could be about to happen.

"What do you propose to do?" Aikka asked.

"For now? Nothing. Let me keep an eye on this. All I ask is that you make sure Eva does not come to any harm. You know how she likes to go off exploring, just make sure she's watched. Make up any excuse. I've got someone else keeping an eye on her, but I'm not sure about his reliability. And I know you definitely doubt his reliability"

At last the shadow of a smirk flitted across Jordan's face as he said this last part. Aikka thought hard for a minute, and then figured it out.

"That David boy? You know him?"

"He's my little brother. Long story really. Ask him if you really want to know. I've got to go"

"Are you going to tell Molly about this?"

Jordan frowned again

"I can't. David's going to keep her informed. Just make sure both of them are safe Aikka. I'll come back if the situation changes"

And with that, Jordan was gone.

Aikka stared, completely bewildered, at the spot where Jordan had been a mere few seconds ago, his brain working through all of the new information. Finally, he recovered his senses, and rational thinking began to take over. He decided the best plan was to go and see Molly, to make sure that she had indeed been informed of the situation and inform her that her security would be increased. He leapt up from his chair and hurried away.

As he approached the doors to the corridor where she was staying, his attention was diverted by the sound of raised voices coming from the other side. Suddenly, the doors were thrown open, and Molly's friends, the Abbott twins, were walking away from the dormitories. They seemed to be arguing about Molly

"You can't blame Eva for this! He made her promise not to tell and she hasn't. This isn't her fault!" the smaller one, Jenny was pleading with Hannah

"Leave me alone Jen! She can do whatever she wants, I really don't care," Hannah retorted

"Then why are you acting like this?"

They were so absorbed in their conversation that they did not notice Aikka lurking by the door. He had jumped to the side when the doors had been opened to avoid being hit. He watched them go, wondering what had happened, and then continued through the open doors to Molly's room.

He paused for a few seconds before knocking. He thought he heard Molly groan quietly, then a few footsteps, and then there she was, staring at him.

"Oh, Aikka! I thought you were..." her sentence trailed off, and she blushed slightly. Ignoring this, Aikka started speaking

"Have you spoken to David tonight?"

"Yeah, I got back just a few minutes ago... wait, has _he_ spoken to you?" she asked, as she no doubt recalled the conversation she had just had. Aikka nodded, and her eyes widened.

"Come with me, we need to find David"

"Sure, but I don't know where the guys are staying"

"I do. Come on"

He led her away from the girls corridor and across the away to the boys dormitories. Compared to the calm tranquillity of the girl's corridor, the boy's corridor was pandemonium. A group of students were playing a game of tag football out in the hallway. Eva had to duck to avoid the ball that had just been launched in their direction and Aikka caught it one handed. The boys jumped at the sight of Aikka and instantly quietened down.

"Where is David?" Aikka asked calmly. The boys all exchanged bemused expressions. There was then the sound of someone knocking on one of the doors, some murmuring. The boys shuffled around, and David emerged from behind them, a book in one hand and his other hand pulling off a pair of reading glasses. He looked as bemused as the rest of them.

"David. You and Eva have been asked to join the King and Queen for dinner. I have been sent to escort you both there," Aikka announced, his expression completely neutral. There was a fresh outbreak of murmuring at this. David turned and went back to his room. Eva feared he was ignoring the summons, but he was back a moment later, having simply deposited his book and glasses back in his room. Aikka turned and left the corridor, David and Eva hurrying after him.

However, Aikka led them back to his own room. David caught on immediately

"There is no dinner with your parents is there?" he asked, smiling wryly. Aikka shook his head

"No. I need to speak with both of you. We are all aware of the new situation, and we must act accordingly" David frowned and Eva's eyes widened with fear.

"What do you mean, act accordingly?" she asked

"We are all in agreement that the top priority right now should be your safety. For that reason, I want you to stay with David at all times, or with myself, and not go wandering off by yourself"

Eva's reaction caught everyone off guard.

"No"

Aikka stared at her, surprised.

"What is the problem with this plan?" he asked her politely

"You think they don't stare at me enough right now, being the Prince's 'little friend'? What do you think will happen if I have to be by your side every single day? They will never leave me alone!"

Aikka stared at her, completely taken aback. Even David looked stunned.

"David will be watching as well," Aikka said, trying to placate her. She let out a derisive snort.

"Yeah, because that will make everything so much better. My best friend now hates me because of him! I'm not agreeing to this. Whatever is out there, it can come for me. I'm more than ready to take it on!"

And with that, she stormed from the room, leaving a stunned silence in her wake. After a minute David spoke up.

"I think that went well," he said brightly. Aikka fixed him with an incredulous stare. Was he being serious? David caught sight of the look on his face.

"Dude, it's called sarcasm. Might want to look it up if you're dealing with her," he said, gesturing out of the door after her. Then he took off running after her. Aikka could hear him calling for her.

He sank down onto his bed, and tried to take this new situation. If Eva was going to ignore the new threat and go wandering off alone, then he had a very serious problem on his hands. He had to make her understand that this was all in the name of her safety. But how?


End file.
